The Story
I photographed this Bronze-green Euphonia (Euphonia mesochrysa) along the Trampolín de la Muerte, the mountain road above Mocoa, Putumayo, Colombia. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, and in Colombia it ranges between 500 and 2,300 meters. Its flight feathers are dusky, with yellow-green edges on the outer ones and olive-green edges on the rest. It tends to feed mostly in shrubs and small trees. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/180 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, +0.5 EV. The road from San Francisco to Mocoa opened in 1944 and runs between about 600 and 2,800 meters, crossing from Andean forest into the Amazonian foothills.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Bronze-green Euphonia (Euphonia mesochrysa) belongs to the family Fringillidae (Finches, Euphonias, and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
